When governor Brian Kemp of Georgia announced this week that he would soon allow restaurants, barbershops and other businesses to reopen, the Republican governor’s plan seemed in tune with a president who had openly encouraged protesters of social distancing restrictions.

And the president did seem pleased. On Tuesday night, Vice President Mike Pence and President Trump, in separate phone calls, each expressed his support for the governor’s coronavirus response, said an official familiar with the calls who was unauthorised to speak about the matter.

That is why Trump’s criticism on Wednesday — “I think it’s too soon,” the president said during an afternoon briefing — has baffled Kemp and Georgia Republicans, whose first-term governor rode to victory on a Trump endorsement.

The President amped up his criticism on Thursday. “I want them to open,” he said of businesses, “and I want them to open as soon as possible and I want the state to open. But I was not happy with Brian Kemp. I will tell you that”.

Trump’s public scoldings of Kemp sent a confusing message to other Republican governors who are considering similar moves.

“You know you’re going to be left hanging out to dry if you make a call that’s at odds with Trump’s psyche or mood or thinking on a given day,” said Mark Sanford, the former Republican governor of South Carolina and a persistent critic of Mr. Trump. “And I think that in political terms, given the size of his base, that adds a level of complexity, particularly for red-state governors.”

The relationship between the President and the Georgia governor, two natural political allies, was already complicated. The President was irritated when Kemp decided to pass over Representative Doug Collins, a staunch administration ally, while filling an open Senate seat late last year, according to officials in the White House and on Capitol Hill.

Still, after Trump encouraged social distancing protests last weekend, Kemp’s plan to allow gyms, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen did not seem like a stretch. Those businesses were to reopen on Friday, and restaurants will be allowed to resume limited dine-in service on Monday. Movie theaters and other entertainment venues will also be allowed to reopen.

Kemp said the changes were crucial to helping business owners and employees get back to work. But they were roundly criticised by public health experts and mayors, including Atlanta’s, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who said she was not consulted about the plan — and argued that Georgia’s largest metropolis was not ready to open for business.

Many of the cases in Georgia have been concentrated in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The state has more than 21,500 reported cases as of Thursday, with 872 deaths, according to state health data.

The President’s criticism did not cause Kemp to adjust his plan, but the opposition to the governor’s order now puts Trump in the same camp as liberal Democrats like Bottoms. The President’s comments on Wednesday are just one shard of his seemingly contradictory series of positions regarding when to relax social distancing measures and reopen American businesses.

Last Thursday, Trump announced a careful, phased system for states to follow as they moved closer to normalcy. The next day, he unleashed a series of tweets encouraging protesters to “liberate” three states — Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia — where Democratic governors have imposed strict social distancing restrictions. The President has also said in the past that he has “total” authority to impose his will on the states.